Shopping the Day after Thanksgiving....

[DJeterFan]

Took my mom and I a half hour to find a parking spot at the mall. We were thisclose to scrapping the whole thing. Wasn't crazy inside the mall, ironically enough.

I was really annoyed though when we went out for lunch and I asked for the lunch portion of a pasta that was on a special lunch menu and told they weren't doing lunch portions today. Gee, because it's cheaper?? What a rip. You're "not doing lunch portions today", really? You can't put half the amount in a bowl? Or you want to get every cent out of the shoppers so you make everyone get the full-size portion? Grrr....

[MRD]

What a horrible way to die . There's nothing anyone needs so badly for people to behave like animals. If anything can come from this, hopefully it will be a wake-up call for stores to re-evalute how they do things on Black Friday. And those people who barged in like stampeding bulls should be ashamed of themselves, especially the ones who complained after hearing why the store needed to close.

EXACTLY!!!

I have to admit that I have a fear of crowds for this reason. I don't avoid them totally, but this kind of stuff crosses my mind when I'm in one and I'm always scanning the crowd, looking for exits or signs of trouble. When I was younger, I never had crowd anxiety.

But crowd mentality causes people to act in ways they normally wouldn't otherwise and it's scary.

My heart goes out to this man's family and I hope it does make the stores re-examine how they handle sales like this.
Interestingly enough, we hire security (usually off duty cops) at the museum when we have any event that is fairly large. And for us fairly large is anything over 100 people. Makes you wonder why stores like this dont' have to have some kind of security force (not for shoplifters, but for crowd control) on Black Friday.

Djeterfan, that would have ticked me off too about the half portion.

[Lois Lane]

Interestingly enough, we hire security (usually off duty cops) at the museum when we have any event that is fairly large. And for us fairly large is anything over 100 people. Makes you wonder why stores like this dont' have to have some kind of security force (not for shoplifters, but for crowd control) on Black Friday.

Because, God forbid, they'd have to fork over more money to pay for extra security. I've always wondered why stores don't do this more like concerts...give everyone in line wristbands. Then when the store opens, let the first 100 in. 15 minutes later, let the next 100 in. And so on. I know that people will still cheat/cut/etc., but maybe it could help keep some semblance of order. I'm sure once this man's family gets done suing Wal Mart, they'll wish they had invested in a few more security guards.

[MRD]

Because, God forbid, they'd have to fork over more money to pay for extra security. I've always wondered why stores don't do this more like concerts...give everyone in line wristbands. Then when the store opens, let the first 100 in. 15 minutes later, let the next 100 in. And so on. I know that people will still cheat/cut/etc., but maybe it could help keep some semblance of order. I'm sure once this man's family gets done suing Wal Mart, they'll wish they had invested in a few more security guards.

I thought that as well that there will be a huge lawsuit in this.

Good idea about the wrist bands.

Hey! Where've you been? We've missed you around here.

[Unklescott]

I've always wondered why stores don't do this more like concerts..

You would think that it wouldn't be allowed since the tragedy at the Who concert in Cincinnati back in '79. This is why festival seating is no longer allowed at concerts.

[MRD]

2 people shot and killed each other in a Toys R Us today.

I'm telling you, I'm done with the shopping craze. From now on, I plan to make Christmas more about loved ones and less about spending money.

[Ellen]

Because, God forbid, they'd have to fork over more money to pay for extra security. . . I'm sure once this man's family gets done suing Wal Mart, they'll wish they had invested in a few more security guards.

Sure -- that'll happen. Like they'll invest in their employees. Or ethical manufacturing practices. Or give a flying f*** about the communities they destroy. I sound like a broken record, but WATCH the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices. Save money. Live better. My a$$!

[buglover]

This whole saving a few dollars and trampling people in the process makes me sick. Give me a break. Are we truly that desperate that we kill people for a saving?? I'm over the whole issue of Christmas being about gifts. It's about something entirely different!

[MamaC]

The poor man wasn't even a regular WallyWorld employee.....he was working for a temporary employment agency serving WallyWorld. I hope his family does sue both the temp agency and WallyWorld.

It would be nice if they could arrest some of these buffoons, but I don't see that happening.


I looked over all the Black Friday ads and decided to sleep in. There really wasn't anything must have for me this year and, with the economy being what it is, I have decided not to buy just for the sake of buying like I have in years' past. I am pretty sure that the stuff I will end up buying will be on sale from now until Christmas, so I plan to go shopping during the day, during the week when crowds won't be a problem.

[SR5Rfan]

I'm probably in the minority here, but this wasn't the fault of the temp agency or Wal-Mart. The blame should be placed on those customers who were so impatient that they broke the doors down to get into the store. The stores have held these sales on Black Friday for ages, and shouldn't have to spend additional money on security guards - after all, we are supposed to be civilized human beings. Although my heart goes to his family (and those of the people who were shot and killed at Toys R Us) I don't think the store owners should be punished for the actions of the customers.

This being said, I agree that things need to change. The idea of handing out wristbands and only allowing a limited number in the store at a time is a good one; but there will still be those pushing and shoving and behaving badly.